�鶹��

Available for over a year

Good morning. Faith leaders have written a letter together, encouraging people to participate in the one minute’s silence tomorrow at midday to remember those who have died in the past year. This year has been extra tough. We have not been able to be close to our loved ones in hospital or to those who have died. Burials have been limited to just a few people present. Muslims usually try to bury someone within 24 hours. The strain on burial grounds and funeral directors has been immense. The workload of hospital chaplains has been truly overwhelming at times. The comfort they have given to families has been so valuable. Prayers and recitation shared over a phone from the hospital bedside between the patient and their families. We never would have imagined the comfort something like that could bring. As with so many aspects of this past year, the resilience of people has been humbling to witness. Finding new ways to do old things. A few days before my friend died, we came together online as friends of hers to pray, to share memories of her, to remind ourselves that God is close and that she is simply returning to Him. Of course it was not the same as meeting but somehow I found it to be a very spiritual experience and I hope it made her passing somewhat easier to bear for her loved ones too. My husband and I joined a Jewish friend of ours on Zoom following the passing of his mother. He was sitting Shiva as is customary and being able to speak to him, hear his stories and share some intimate and deep moments was very special, despite not being together physically. “Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji’un” which means ‘We belong to God and to God we return” and is what a Muslim recites from the Qur’an when hearing that someone has died or is experiencing difficulty. It is said as a reminder that God knows everything and that any challenge we have is not beyond what we can bare. This anniversary of lockdown will be bringing back difficult memories of a terrible year. But we can hold those people who have lost loved ones in our hearts and prayers and reach out this week to let them know we are thinking of them. We can’t fully take away the pain felt over the last year but we can take a moment to reflect with others and to remind ourselves that we are there for each other.